Driving Year-Over-Year Superior Performance: The Continual Benefits of E-Procurement Emerge

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - September 9, 2008) - Over the past decade, the advent of e-procurement technology has transformed procurement departments into cost-cutting machines. Not only has e-procurement driven improvements in transaction-processing and compliance, it has added an additional layer of depth to the procurement department by transforming it into an educated core of real-time information and spend visibility, according to a new report published by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS). To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5152.

"The E-Procurement Benchmark Report" evaluates the strategies, capabilities and procurement performance of over 400 enterprises, discovering that the decade-old solution continually adds value to the ever-evolving procurement unit. E-procurement technology has helped Best-in-Class enterprises:

--  Achieve 75% lower requisition-to-order cycle times
--  Place 88% of their spend under management (twice the amount of the
    average enterprise)
--  Experience 31% lower "maverick" (off-contract) spend than all other
    organizations
    

"Best-in-Class enterprises consistently demonstrate their ability to achieve desirable performance across the spectrum of procurement performance metrics," said Amit Gupta, research analyst, Aberdeen. "By leveraging e-procurement technology and other crucial strategies and solutions, such as collaboration, supplier networks, and centralization, they have successfully streamlined the procure-to-pay process."

Based on the research, Aberdeen suggests that enterprises implement the following recommendations to spark performance within their respective e-procurement programs:

--  Leverage e-procurement solutions across complex category management
    (contract labor, print, T&E, etc.)
--  Conduct periodic benchmarking of key procurement metrics against
    industry competitors
    

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: IQNavigator, Puridiom, Verian Technologies, and Wax Digital. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5152.

To access all of Aberdeen's complimentary research please visit http://research.aberdeen.com.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

© 2008 AberdeenGroup, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
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Contact Information: Media Contact: Amit Gupta Aberdeen Harte-Hanks 925-264-1828 amit.gupta@aberdeen.com